This project was a schematic proposal for a residence for a writer of fiction and his wife, who is a community outreach coordinator for a rape crisis center. The design approach developed from a discussion with the clients about the nature of fiction’s abstraction of reality into a stylized version of the world in which superfluous information that does not contribute to the narrative is eliminated. Since architecture also performs a similar abstraction of reality in order to produce a controlled and coherent experience of the world, it was proposed that this house would do the opposite—complicating the typically unilateral narrative of domesticity by simultaneously featuring elements that would undermine such a singular reading.

The design of this house therefore allows the dominance of the domestic veneer to be challenged by its incongruous functional support elements. The resulting design therefore maintains a relatively normal domestic interior while exposing all of its requisite structure, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing to the exterior.

The intent of this approach was not to celebrate the typically hidden mechanics of the house, per se, but rather to challenge any unilateral architectural reading that would result from their typical concealment by allowing them to compete equally for visual attention. As a result, the conditioned domestic space of the house and its occupants no longer enjoy dominant status. Rather, the “reality” of this space is framed as an obvious “fiction,” its hegemony challenged by the incongruous elements that surround and penetrate it.

The living space of the Franklin/Riordan Residence therefore becomes a highly contingent domestic oasis; its legibility and integrity constantly challenged by the presence of other spaces and surfaces that are not intended for domestic activity. These include not only the service elements that encrust the exterior, but also foreign spatial elements that intrude into the domestic interior—such as the unconditioned exterior stair enclosure which tunnels through it on its way to the control-cab writing studio above.